The president wins freedom for an American who was held hostage for five unimaginably lonely years by the Taliban, and his critics carp. Yes, there are disquieting questions about how Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl fell into the Taliban’s hands in the first place, but that’s for another day (and a fair hearing). What tune would they have sung if, instead of getting Bergdahl back in one piece, we’d received a video from the Taliban of Bergdahl being beheaded? Can’t you just hear the critics? “He’s an American. Why didn’t you work harder to get him back alive?”

The critics’ key complaint, besides the indelicate implication that Bergdahl just wasn’t worth it: Trading five Taliban for this one American might encourage the bad guys to take more hostages so they can negotiate more trades. Here’s a newsflash, guys: Deal or no deal, they need no encouragement; they would capture every single American in that part of the world if they could, and hold them hostage … or worse.

Sen. John McCain — who, after his own years as a POW in Vietnam, should know better — decried the release of the Taliban soldiers, saying, “It is disturbing that these individuals would have the ability to re-enter the fight.” Yes, senator, it is, but that didn’t stop North Vietnam from letting you go. More important, there are millions of militant Muslims over there who are in the fight already. Millions! Five more doesn’t change the balance of power one bit. Remember, it only took 19 zealots to change the world on 9/11.

Then there’s Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who called it “troublesome” that the U.S. negotiated with terrorists. What does he think? That Americans held hostage in the past — like Colorado’s own Tom Sutherland in Beirut — were released after years in captivity because one day their captors simply woke up in a good mood?

No. Even in Syria, we negotiated to get our men back. With Bergdahl, President Obama applied the sacred standard of “leave no man behind.” Obama didn’t put that principle in place; it is a time-honored tradition in the U.S. military. Americans have long put their own lives on the line to rescue fellow servicemen, whether captured, injured or dead.

Would anyone slam the Israelis for being soft on terrorism? Israel repatriated five convicted Palestinian prisoners, plus 199 other militants whose bodies Israel still held, in exchange for the corpses of two Israeli soldiers, captured earlier by Hezbollah. The Israelis live by the same caring canon we have.

What it came down to this time was a choice between two vital principles: Don’t negotiate with terrorists, and don’t leave any man behind. Trouble is, they can’t co-exist. Sometimes there is simply no happy ending. If we’ve sent a message to the bad guys that we don’t always obey our long-standing pledge not to negotiate with terrorists, we’ve also sent a message to our men and women in uniform that if they fall into enemy hands, we shall stop at nothing to bring them home.

The really interesting thing about all this, politically, is that critics have also said they’re happy that Sgt. Bergdahl finally is free. Go figure! You see, they can’t just say they’re glad, then walk away from the microphones; that might sound like they actually approve of something the president accomplished.

Come on, guys. We got a man back, alive. Be happy. If Bergdahl did desert, the time will come for him to pay the price … if he hasn’t already paid it, bigtime.

Greg Dobbs of Evergreen was a correspondent for ABC News for 23 years, then for HDNet television’s “World Report.”

There’s been way more than enough written about Donald Trump’s battle with kneeling football players — especially with a major crisis underway in Puerto Rico — but one thing really does bother me that’s been revealed during this brouhaha: the extent to which many Americans have accepted the anti-democratic and false equivalence of patriotism and the military.